What About Now?
by chibi-face
Summary: A new and interesting twist. A girl from New England has found out she is a witch, but due to a traumatic experience she has not decided to enter Hogwarts until her 6th year. This girl adds some spice and drama to a somewhat sleepy Hogwarts. Please R
1. Default Chapter

A/N: I know I shouldn't be starting another story at the moment, but I just couldn't resist!  I got bit by the Harry Potter bug, it also doesn't help that I'm reading the 5th book for the 2nd time now does it?? Umm, I was toying with this idea before and had it written out until the computers at my school decided to be cruel and eat my disk ( similar to a VCR eating a tape) and I lost everything.  And of course I didn't think to back it up on my zip drive or write it down!

Disclaimer: No, of course I don't own Harry Potter or else Sirius wouldn't have died.  Anyhow, I do own Anya Rousse, Steve Mayer, Nan Rousse (Syth) and any characterizations of any non original characters.  Also the plotline belongs to me.  I also don't own the lyrics to "All or Nothing" by Athena Cage; written by John Rhone & Ontario Haynes produced by Whole 9.  You take what is mine, I take you down at the kneecaps.

**What About Now?**

**Prologue: All or Nothing**

_"Whoa, Steve come check this out!" Anya cried to her best friend, as yet another object came whizzing into her hand unaided.  _

_"What did you do that thing again?" he asked as he sat down beside her._

_"Yeah, look," she said as she made another object from his room come into her hands, this time his basketball travel team championship trophy. _

_"That's wicked cool though.  How do you do that though?" _

_"I don't know, I just do." Anya shrugged and pulled her short blonde hair behind her ears.  "Let's go outside, I'm bored.  I betcha I could beat you at a game of horse!" _

_Steve's grey eyes smirked back at her, "What don't want to show your weirdness anymore?" He pushed her playfully._

_"I'm not weird, you're weird, you weirdo!" _

This is how it has always been for Anya and Steve; ever since he had told off some kids that were bullying her in class.  They were inseparable from that moment on.   Always together.  They were due to start middle school together in the fall.  Anya had raced down the hall and out the door to beat Steve to the basketball.  Steve jumped down the stairs two at a time to catch up to Anya; calling as he went; "Ma, Anya and I will be outside 'kay?"

                "'Kay, just be back inside this house before dark!"

                Steve raced outside and slammed the screen door, only to find Anya staring at a letter in her hand.  "_What is it?" he asked._

_                "It's a letter, Steve I gotta go home.  I'll talk to you tomorrow." _

_                Steve looked puzzled, Anya never wanted to go home during the summer, in fact she slept over his house more than he at her house!_

_                She raced home, and burst through her screen door.  "Ma? Ma!"  Anya walked quickly through the seemingly empty house to the kitchen, maybe there was a note.  She walked into the kitchen…_

                Anya sat up in her bed, breathing hard.  She looked around her room, eyes frantically darting; her heart pounding in her chest.  '_Just a dream; never mind dream; it was a nightmare!' _  She buried her head in her hands as she remembered what she saw next :  her mother and her father lying on the kitchen floor; murdered by the greatest wizard of all time.  She was still clutching the envelope and screaming when a neighbor came in and found her.  She hadn't even realized she was a witch or that her mother was, she had just gotten her letter to Hogwarts that day.  Anya dry washed her face; as music floated softly from her stereo speakers. 

_          Live your dreams,  
          It's not as hard as it may seem.  
          You gotta work to get the cream,  
          On your hopes you must lean.  
          From your fears  
          You have to win yourself.  
          It's all or nothing,  
          Give your everything.  
  
          My heart is still recovering,  
          From the heartbreak of another kind,  
          I'm still drying my tears.  
          Getting over my own fears  
  
          In my life  
          So I wanna make sure this time  
          That I'm strong enough  
          To give it my all_

                She took a deep breath.  This summer would be it, she finally convinced her grandmother to let her go to Hogwarts.  Her grandmother hadn't let Anya out of her sight since her mother had died.  She was in correspondence to Hogwarts and Anya was taught through her grandmother all the arts of wizardry.  She sighed heavily. 

                Anya had moved to England years ago, when her parents had died.  Leaving behind everything she knew, her friends, her home, Steve.  She  shrugged at the attempt at letter writing when she first moved out to England, but they had grown their separate ways.  Now the only thing that remained of her past, was her memories and her still prominent New England accent, for which she was extremely proud of. 

                This was it.  Today was the day.  Anya was to be going to Hogwarts today.  She looked about nervously on Platform 9 ¾ feeling extremely out of place in her jeans that flared out and a cute tee.  

                "Grams? Are you sure this is the right place?"

                "Yes, Anya darling, your mother said the same exact thing when she first went off to Hogwarts.  Now you're luggage is already on the train. You're not having doubts are you?" Her grandmother looked at her square in the eye with such an intense gaze that Anya had to burst out laughing.

                "No, well, yeah….Grams.  Just a little butterflies is all."

                Anya's grandmother smiled; "Its okay, child, now get on to the train with you, before you miss it!  You'll do just fine, remember I've taught you well!"

                Anya hopped on to the nearest car, "Of course, grams, I'll have a wicked awesome time!"

                Anya wasn't aware at the time, but she was being watched by two groups of people.  One of course being Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were watching her with avid interest.  The three exchanged looks and thought instantaneously; '_New girl.' _ But Harry puzzled a bit more, she looked to be his age, how can this girl be new and yet be his age?  He would have to find out. 

                Alas, there was another person that was observing Anya from afar, and that was Draco Malfoy.  He observed her nearly falling out of her window waving to what looked to be her guardian.  He, too came to the same conclusion as Harry, Ron and Hermione did.  '_New girl.'_  Something about the girl, however was drawing Draco to her.  Even from where he was standing, he could tell that she omitted great amounts of self confidence and poise.  Too much, in fact to be a first year.  Just by the way she smiled and the way her eyes sparkled he knew he would have to make her his. 


	2. Chapter One: Where I Come From

A/N: Chapter One of What About Now? is going to be up and running soon.  For those of you who are following my other stories, trust me I haven't given up on them.  I've merely put them aside because I have been spending so much time with A One Girl Revolution I've got major writers angst.  Ayla & Shim, I have to rework completely and will be reposting the Prologue sometime soon.  In the meantime, however, feel free to enjoy this story. 

Disclaimer:  No, I don't own Harry Potter and crew.  I wish I did however, the story would be completely different.  As stated before I do own Anya Rousse, Steve Mayer, Nan Rousse(Syth), any characterizations of any unoriginal characters and of course I own the plot line. All lyrics come from www.lyricsondemand.com.  You take, I take you down. 

**What About Now?**

**Chapter One: Where I Come From**

            Anya sat in her own car as the train pulled away.  She reached into her backpack and pulled out her CD player; she had long since bewitched it so that it would never run low on battery power.  She pulled the headset on and instantly music came blaring into her brain.  Usher's baby face came to mind: 

_Yeah, Yeah Yeah, Yeah yeah, Yeaah   
Yeah, Yeah yeah, Yeah yeah, Yeaah   
  
I'm in the club with my homies, tryna get a lil V-I, keep it down on the low key, cause you know how it feels.  
I said shorty she was checkin up on me, from the game she was spittin my ear you would think that she knew me.  
So we decided to chill   
  
Conversation got heavy, she had me feelin like she's ready to blow!  
(Watch Out! Watch Out!)  
She saying come get me, come get me,  
So I got up and followed her to the floor, she said baby lets go,  
When I told her I said…_

            She picked up her wand and muttered _minimus_, to shrink her CD player so it could fit into her pocket.  Anya started to dance like nobody was looking.  She sighed to herself; Usher had some of the best dancing music out there. 

X

            Harry and his friends had settled themselves in a compartment, good naturedly teasing one another about who liked whom.  "Ronald Weasley you are so in _love _with Lavender Brown and don't deny it!" Hermione smirked as she saw her friend's face go beet red. 

            "I do not!  Well, _you _like Viktor Krum, ickle Vickie!" Ron said the last part in a sing song tone that made his voice crack. 

            Harry pointed at both of his friends and laughed.  Hermione was the first to shut Harry up, by saying, "Harry, so who is it that you fancy this year, huh?"

            Ron wheeled on him as well, "Oi, mate, so who's the lucky girl this time?"

            Harry snorted and exclaimed, "Come off it, the year's hardly begun guys!" But with that he took his leave and disappeared from the compartment leaving Ron and Hermione mystified. 

X

            In another part of the Hogwarts Express, Draco was getting teased, just not the verbal kind. Pansy had cornered him again and was letting her boobs fall into his hands.  He rolled his eyes while he pretended to moan appreciatively, '_What a sleazy whore,' _he thought as she started grinding into him.  Finally he had enough.

            He pushed Pansy off, "Pansy, please, I have to…go find Crabbe and Goyle to keep them from getting into trouble and of course harass Potty and his friends." The pause to think of something decent.  He shoved himself past her as she looked back at him with wide eyes. 

X

            Alone in her train compartment, Anya sank into her seat and once again reached into her backpack to pull out something that had been minimized.  She pointed her wand at the thing and muttered _maximus;_ she grinned at the thought that her grandmother hadn't known about her bringing her laptop.  Once again she had magically charmed it so she could use it anywhere.  As she opened her computer, her mood changed as did her music, this time to something soothing as she checked her email.

 _If there were no words  
No way to speak  
I would still hear you  
If there were no tears  
No way to feel inside  
I'd still feel for you  
  
And even if the sun refused to shine  
Even if romance ran out of rhyme  
You would still have my heart until the end of time  
You're all I need, my love, my Valentine…_

            Anya opened her yahoo email account; toughloving; and her eyebrows went up.  A familiar email address showed up in her inbox.  _dragonsheartyahoo.com, _ Steve.  '_What could he want?' _she thought as she clicked on the email entitled "I Miss You" 

_            Anya, _

_            Just wanted to catch up with u.  We haven't spoke with each other in ages! Damn girl, how u been? I'm just startin' my second year of high school.  So did you finally convince your grams to let you go to Hogwarts this year? My Ma is standin' over my shoulder as I write this, and she sends her love.  So, you still showin' off your "Anyaness"?? LOL.  'member the good 'ol days? I really hope you write back soon.  I know I haven't been the best pen pal but maybe we can start up again.  I really miss you Anya._

_Talk to you soon. (I hope __J)_

_Always,_

_Steve_

            She was about to snap off a quick and witty reply when a throat was cleared, making her look up, despite her music.

X

            After Harry had gone off from his friends, he started searching the train compartments for the mystery girl.  Finally he found her all alone listening to her headphones and looking perturbed and puzzled at a computer screen.  He took a few minutes to "check her out" noting how tiny she looked curled up, her eyes so expressive; as they looked so frustrated while looking at her laptop.  He cleared his throat, softly to get her attention.  '_Well, here goes nothing.'_  "Hey," he said while putting his clammy hands in his pockets, trying to appear nonchalant.

            She took off her headphones and returned the greeting, "Hey, what's up?" her eyes roving over his face and down his body.  Anya closed her laptop.

            "So, are you new?" Harry cringed at the stupidity of his statement; of course she was new.  (Ahh…awkward first conversations)  _'Duh, you git, of course she's new!' _ 

            "Yeah, I'm new to the Hogwarts thing, but I've been homeschooled by my grandmother.  Hopefully I'm equivalent to you and most of the 6th years here." 

            Harry's eyebrows shot up, '_wow, pretty intelligent, she sounds like Hermione; but at the same time she doesn't.  I wonder if it's the way she talks.' _  "Where are you from, you sound like you're not from around here.  Would you like to join me and my friends instead of sitting by yourself?"

            She smiled at him, expressing her thanks and feelings of gratitude; "That would be wicked cool.  I'm originally from New England, I moved to England after my parents died." Anya grabbed her stuff and muttered the minimizing spell again for her laptop.  Steve would just have to wait.

X

            Draco was wandering the train, looking for the mystery girl after he left Pansy.  He stopped by one compartment and heard laughing and was shocked to see Harry and the mysterious girl walk out with him.  He just couldn't help himself, "Potty," he snarled.

            As Harry was leading Anya out of the compartment to join his friends, he heard this snarl and he whipped his head around to see who it was; and suddenly felt his body being slammed against the compartment.  Harry had a good idea as to who was doing this and heard Anya speak for the first time, rather forcefully. 

"Hey! You dumbass!  What the fuck you think you're doing? He didn't do anything to you, moron!"  She shoved the blond haired bully off of her newfound friend.  After Anya had gotten Draco off of Harry she stood in between the two and proceeded to give Draco a piece of her mind.  "What the fuck you think you're doing? Why are you messin' with him? You think you're all big and bad but you're not." Anya's hazel eyes blazed with a fire unknown to Draco.  He actually looked taken aback and his mouth worked soundlessly like a fish out of water. 

Harry saw this and smirked and bit back a chuckle.  '_Damn, this is priceless!  Somebody finally stood up to Draco and put him in his place! Wait 'till I tell 'Mione and Ron!' _ He realized that Anya was going to give Draco another go round, and stepped in.  He took Anya's hand and tried to pull her away from Draco, "C'on Anya let's go find my friends.  Malfoy's not worth your time he's just a weenie git." 

As Anya was being pulled away by Harry she turned one last time and snarled at Draco, "You mess with us again, I take you down at the knee caps."

X

            Draco watched Anya walk away with Harry.   He looked like he had been stunned, and in fact he had.  Verbally.  He shook himself, '_Damn, what the hell just happened here? I just got shoved and reprimanded by a girl? Nevermind that, who in the hell had it in their right minds to tell me off? I'm practically royalty.  But y'know,' _he thought slyly, '_ that girl is worthy of me, any girl who has no problem telling me off is somebody I want to get to know.  She is mine!' _ He sighed as he went off to really find Crabbe and Goyle.  Next time he would be ready. 

A/N: And so ends the turbulent ride to Hogwarts ne? Anyway I got a kick out of writing Anya telling Draco off.  It's something I've always wanted to do.  We'll get to see next time how Hermione and Ron take to Anya's sometimes up front attitude…the next chapter takes place in Hogwarts.  Once again, I do not own the song lyrics featured in this chapter.   They belong to the respected writers, and singers and I got them off of www.lyricsondemand.com.


	3. Chapter Two: Desperate Beauty

**A/N:** I'm sorry to those of you who follow my other stories, but I seemed to have misplaced my floppy disk that has all of my files on it, and because I've just moved in with my mom everything is rather helter skelter. I have an idea of where it could be so I'm hoping its there. Anyway, I should be updating them soon. Ayla & Shim, I have started to rewrite the prologue and it should be up and running soon. AOGR is taking a back seat for the moment.

**Disclaimer: **No, I do not own Harry Potter and crew. However, I do own Anya Rousse, Nan Rousse (Syth), and any of the characterizations as I see fit. I, as the authoress of this tale, do not own the lyrics to "_How Far" _by Martina McBride, whoever wrote them owns them. As usual you can find these lyrics at

**What About Now?**

**Chapter Two: Desperate Beauty**

The Hogwarts Express had lurched to a stop in front of the castle. The students began swarming towards the exits on the train and Harry took Anya's hand. "C'mon let's go try and find my mates." He pulled her until he saw his two best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, standing in the crowd obviously looking for him. When Harry showed up with Anya in tow, Ron looked like he had seen the goddess Athena herself, he leaned over to Hermione and muttered, "Wow, that was quick." Hermione snickered and Harry pretended not to hear what he said.

"Hermione, this is Anya Rousse, Anya this is Hermione Granger." Harry gestured between the two girls. Anya held her hand out for a few moments, and then looked at it; shrugging and putting it in her pocket.

"So you are a sixth year, right? How come you didn't start with us in our first year?" As usual Hermione cut right through the bullshit.

"My parents had died right around that time, so my grandmother took me and I was taught through correspondence courses at Hogwarts." Anya looked uneasy as she said it, as if it gave her great amounts of pain to say it, but she would not lie to these people.

Harry quickly turned to introduce Ron to Anya, "Ron, this is Anya Rousse, Anya this is Ron Weasley." Harry again gestured between the other boy and Anya. Once again Anya held her hand out to shake, but Ron also snubbed it and it quickly found its way back into her pocket.

"H-hey."

Anya smiled to make Ron feel more at ease, "Hey what's up?"

Ron stared blankly at Anya, until Hermione pulled him away angrily. She heaved an exasperated sigh as she said impatiently, "Let's go Ron."

Harry turned to Anya and shrugged, "Shall we?"

Steely eyes were watching the introductions between old friends and new friends. He smirked at the fact that Hermione left in a huff. But the one thing that irked him was the fact that Potter wouldn't leave this girl alone. He was stuck to her side like super glue, he felt confident that the girl would get annoyed quickly and want to explore on her own. Exit Potter stage right; enter me stage left. Potter was leading this girl into the Great Hall, and he would undoubtedly introduce her to all his weenie friends. '_You want a real man sweetie? I'll show you a real man.' _The steely-eyed watcher smirked at his own dark humor.

Harry led Anya into the Great Hall and led her to the Gryffindor table. "Anya, this is Dean, Seamus, Neville, Patti and Lavender. Guys, this is Anya. She in the sixth year like us."

Dean and Seamus were openly oogling Anya like she was heaven on earth. Lavender and Patti saw her as another comrade to discuss girlie things. You could never have enough girl friends for that.

Anya's hand stayed in her pocket as she was introduced to Harry's friends. After the first few reactions, she didn't want to risk it again. She instead gave a friendly wave and a smile. "Hey all." The group quickly warmed up to Anya's laid-back disposition and soon it was time for the feast to start.

The first years, having been sorted and Gryffindor gaining about a quarter of them, Dumbledore stood up to make his yearly announcements. "To note for the first years, the Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden," at this Fred, George, Ron and Harry smirked. Dumbledore leveled his gaze at them and continued, "one more thing, we have a guest among us. She has been living at home and has been home schooled through correspondence courses with Hogwarts. She has been taught by her grandmother. It is my pleasure to introduce Anya Rousse to all of you. Anya, won't you stand up, there, that's a dear. Please all of you make her feel comfortable and welcome her to your tables. May your year be enjoyable to all. Good god let's eat!" As he said the last part the feast appeared on the plates and students began to chatter among themselves and eat.

Anya was still red from when Dumbledore introduced her to the whole school; she had thought to spend her remaining years here in anonominity and go about her business. Now that everyone knew her name, she heaved a sigh. She was about to dig in, when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Hey Anya, you might lose your appetite if you eat here, why don't you come eat with me?"

Anya looked up to see the blonde haired boy looking down at her with a smirk on his face as the faces around her turned nasty. Anya said very coolly, "You know if I do go eat with you, I might lose whatever appetite I have and vomit on you, already the thought is making me nauseous." She faked vomiting over Draco's shoes. Draco's face turned an interesting shade of green and whirled away in a cloud of frustration. '_Interesting, pretty boy doesn't like vomit. I could use that.'_ Anya hid an evil grin as she, the mistress of evil plans, began to think of some. Anya turned back to her dinner to see smiling faces beaming back at her. "What? Is there something on my face?"

The group looked at Anya like she had ten heads, Ron spoke for the group, "Oi! Anya, you stood up to the greasy git!"

"But I don't get it, why is he so nasty to you guys? And just because I'm eating with you people doesn't give him the right to treat me as he does. What's his deal?"

Harry took the liberty of fielding that question, "Anya in this world," he gestured around the school, "there are some things called purebloods, some people believe that they are practically royalty around here, meaning Malfoy. There are others who are born of muggle parents but are a witch or a wizard, that would be Hermione, many of the purebloods detest "mudbloods" and Malfoy takes a special delight in tormenting 'Mione. And then there are your assorted half and half, which consist of most of the population here. By the way "mudblood" is a dirty word around here

"Well, if it helps my dad was a muggle, my mom was a witch. I learned of my parent's history through my grandmother. But still this doesn't answer my question of how come Draco picks on you more than anything, I mean he's wicked mean to you guys."

The group looked at each other confusedly, Hermione decided to answer this one, "We're not sure what you mean by 'wicked mean' but Malfoy picks on me because I'm born of muggle parents and he picks on Harry and Ron because they are of pureblood families, but of "lesser quality.""

"Wow, this sounds like one big popularity contest. Wicked mean is slang in New England for really mean, wicked," Anya paused to think of how to describe wicked to these guys, "wicked translates to really, it can be used in a good context like "wicked awesome" or in a bad context like "wicked bad" I don't know it's a New England thing I guess." She shrugged. "I've noticed something", she put some food into her mouth, god she was starving, and waved her fork around as she chewed and swallowed, "you call him by I'm guessing his last name, why not his first name? You guys call each other by your first names."

"Teachers don't call you by your first names, they always call you by your surnames. You might as well get used to it Ms. Rousse." Harry looked at her with his eyebrows raised and a smirk on his lips. "Well, I'm stuffed, how 'bout we go back to the common room?"

"Yeah, let's!" Anya piped up, suddenly thinking of Steve. She suddenly had this overpowering urge to get herself settled and send an email to him.

Hermione, Lavender and Patti pushed back their plates as well and stood up, "We're gonna come too."

"The more the merrier, let's go!"

The group left the Great Hall and maneuvered their way up to the Gryffindor common room. The fat lady awaited them and grandly asked for the password, Anya was looking about with her mouth wide open, and she had never seen portraits move or talk before. Harry said the password, tiddlywinks; he had gotten it from the prefects before the group had left the table. The lady opened herself for the group and Anya got her first look at the common room. Hermione, Lavender, and Patti lead her up to the girls' dormitories. Anya was amazed to see her stuff all spread out on a chair and her bed. Her minimized laptop sat on her pillow. Anya jumped up on her bed and muttered _maximus_ and a full sized laptop appeared on her pillow. The girls looked on in avid interest, Lavender and Patti only exposed to wizard things, had never heard of the muggle invention of the laptop. They started asking excited questions,

"Ooo, what's that?"

"How does it work?"

"Did you bewitch it?"

"I've never seen one of those before, what's it called?"

Even Hermione looked on in interest, she had heard of them and had a computer of her own at home and loved surfing the web, she had never dreamed of bringing such a luxury to Hogwarts. Anya looked over at Hermione, "Have you at least seen one?" Anya asked hopefully, knowing of Hermione's parentage.

"Yes, I have, I have a computer at home."

"Oh cool, do you have AIM??"

"Yeah, I'm prone to spend all hours on that. That's how I can keep in touch with my friends. Do you?"

"Yeah, I downloaded it, I have an internal modem, so I can access the Internet anywhere and I bewitched it so I never ran out of battery power."

"My sn is tenshi361 and yours?"

"Mine is a bit embarrassing but it suits me, Bookworm101."

Anya giggled, "It's cute, I like it." Anya smiled at her bushy haired friend.

"Do you have email Anya?"

"Yup, "

"Mine is "

Anya scribbled it down on her hand, so she wouldn't forget. "Man, have I got some funny jokes to pass on to you."

Lavender and Patti sat back and listened to Anya and Hermione talk about their stuff and basically pieced together that the thing on Anya's pillow was a laptop and she was able to keep in touch with people through it and she had bewitched it to never lose battery power. Lavender and Patti looked at each other when Anya mentioned an internal modem, but Hermione seemed to understand, so it was cool.

Anya bent over her laptop, hopefully it would be a nice out for the others, and she kinda wanted to check her mail in peace and reply to Steve's impromptu email. She had a few things to say to him and she tended to speak out loud when she was writing. Hermione got the hint and dragged the other girls out into the common room to give Anya her privacy. She clicked into her email and clicked on Steve's email that he had sent her and clicked the reply button; she chewed her lip as she began to write:

_Dear Steve,_

_Not much is going on here; I'm at Hogwarts now and its quite overwhelming. I'll bet it's even worse than navigating through high school! So much to learn!_

She paused a moment, unsure of what to write, she wanted to lay down the law; to let him know that she wasn't about to be walked all over. To be put down and picked back up at his convenience. She was not his doormat; leave that to some other wench.

_So how is your ma doin'? I really miss the summer of old, running around the neighborhood and spending whole days with you. sigh I'd like to believe you about the pen pal thing,_

She moved her arrow to the AIM icon and signed on quickly, maybe he would be on, and it wouldn't be so hard to write what she was feeling in the email. She would be telling him directly, she sighed in disappointment that he wasn't on, she minimized the program and thought that he would sign on later; she shook her head, OGreatOne, only a guy could think of a name like that. Anyway, she shook her head, back to the email.

_but I don't see how, you've promised me time and time again that you would keep up with our letter writing, or in this case email, but that promise is only good for a few weeks. Shame on you if you fool me once, shame on me if you fool me twice. I just wanna know what makes you pick me up and drop me the way you do. I just want to understand Steve. I like having you for a friend, but I'm not sure how much more of this I can take "I can't keep giving, go on living with the way things are. So I'm gonna walk away and its up to you to say how far." I know this sounds harsh, but I will not be your doormat, I thought we understood that about each other. What happened? What happened to us? _

_Please think this over; I don't want to throw this away any more than you do. Please…Steve, I need you now more than ever._

_Always, Anya_

Anya clicked the send button with tears running down her face. She didn't want to lose him, but she had to tell him how she felt. Hopefully, he would say that he didn't realize that he was treating her like this and he would say that he was sorry, and he would keep up correspondence. He was the only connection she had left; he was the connection to her past, her memories, and her secret. She knew that if she lost him she would lose everything. She hastily wiped away the tears that had come unbidden, shut down her computer and minimized it again, and went to rejoin her friends. She hoped to high heaven that everything would turn out okay.

**A/N:** I hope you liked this chapter, Anya can be a laid back and easygoing person, but she has a fiery streak in her that comes out when provoked. Just so you know I've based Anya on me and my best friend. I tried to show both sides, really she's an amiable girl, so don't completely write her off.


	4. Chapter Three: Haunting Reflections

**A/N : **This is written in Steve's point of view so if it seems a little strange, that's why.  I got hit for inspiration for this today at a friend's house listening to music, I had the CD that the specific song inspired me so I'm listening to it right now.  My laptop still doesn't have a modem, so I can't access the internet, to look for lyrics, so I still have my home base on, just in case I need the lyrics.   Once again, to the followers of my other stories, I'm sorry but I will try to get updated, but I just don't have the inspiration.  I promise I will get them on track again!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter and crew.  I, the authoress, do own Anya Rousse, Steve Mayer, Nan Rousse ( Syth ) and any other characterizations as I see fit.  I also own this specific plotline, which I have yet to figure out ;; don't tell anyone though.  I also don't own the song lyrics shown in this chapter.  The lyrics can be found at 

**What About Now? **

**Chapter Three: Haunting Reflections**

            Steve barreled into his house after lacrosse practice and dropped his sweaty gear all over the den.  Stinking like a gym sock, he crept through the house looking for his mother.  He found her with her back turned to him and he crept up to her and wrapped his arms around her, letting his sweaty smell surround her.  "Boo."

            "Steve! I thought I told you not to do that to me.  Honestly, child, you're going to give me more gray hairs than any of your siblings!"  She slapped his arm playfully, "Go take a shower, as you and your friends would say, you reek."

            Steve's smooth face broke out into a smile, "I'm already half way there Ma." He took off his shirt as he ambled his way through the house and into the bathroom.  He turned the water as hot as it would go, and prepared to get in.

            After Steve's father, Sam Mayer, had passed on due to unfortunate circumstances, Steve had taken on the task of taking care of his mother.  Even though he wasn't  "man of the house", he had an older brother to fill those shoes.  He was the one that taken on a special intuition, for a lack of better words, for his mother's feelings.  Always the one to curl up with her when she was watching TV.  He was the one who worried about her well being, even as a young child.

            Steve had grown since Anya had left him since right before they started middle school together.  He had gone from the "short, nerdy kid" to a handsome, athletic "hunk" of a teen.  His grey eyes now holding a tint of blue in them, and were mysterious enough to make all the girls swoon over him in high school.  Face it, he was every girl's dream and more.  But he wanted none of that. He shook off his natural athletic talent like it was not a big deal, and he didn't see what every girl saw when he looked in the mirror.  To him, he was just another normal guy.

            Steve sat there in the shower, letting the hot water roll over him as he tried to work the kinks of lacrosse practice out of his back.  He stood there until his mother came to the bathroom door; banging on it, "Steve! You're wasting my hot water!!"

            He rolled his eyes and started scrubbing his body with soap.  The least he could do was wash himself and get the stink off of him.  A few minutes later, he toweled off; wrapping the towel around him as he walked into his room and shut the door.  He turned on his computer and while it booted up he found some boxers and put them on under his towel.  He grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from the piles on his floor and quickly dressed himself.  Steve willed the computer to move quicker.  Ever since he had sent that email to Anya he had waited on pins and needles to get her response.

            He had been devastated when she had to move to England with her grandmother after her parents died.  It had nearly killed him to be separated by an ocean from her.  He smiled as he remembered how they met:

            _"Please give it back to me!"_

_            "Why don't you try to get it back from us? Are you a scaredy cat?" _

            Steve had stumbled upon a group of boys teasing a little girl with blonde pigtails.  They had taken her doll and were playing monkey in the middle with it.  The girl was miserable and crying.  He knew what he had to do.

            _"Hey! Why don't you stop that?"_

_            The boys turned and the ringleader proudly announced, "Why? Are you gonna make us?" _

_            Steve had put up his fists, "Yeah." _

_            The boys had dropped the blonde haired girl's doll and surrounded him, the ringleader looked at Steve with all of his friends around, "Are you still gonna make us?" _

_            Steve looked around and saw that the little girl had gotten her doll back that had been left by the boys and said, "Nope." With that he turned on his heel and left._

_            The little girl who he had saved from the teasing caught up with him later that day, "T-thank you for helping me during recess today.  They always pick on me." _

_            Steve turned and saw the little girl again, caught by surprise, he tried the false bravado, "It was no problem.  Hey, if they pick on you, you can play with me.  What's your name?  My name is Stephen James Mayer."_

_            "My name is Anya Lynn Rousse.  I'm glad you're my friend." _

            And then she did the most simplest thing a child could do, she slipped her hand into his.  Right then and there Steve knew he was lost.  He was still smiling about the memory when the computer finished its various "thinking" he clicked into his internet and logged into his email and breathed a sigh of relief when he found Anya's reply waiting in his mailbox.   He clicked eagerly on it, not suspecting a thing.

            _Dear Steve,_

_                        Not much is going on here.  I'm at Hogwarts now and its quite overwhelming.  I'll bet its even worse than navigating through high school.  So much to learn!  So how's your Ma doin'?  I really miss the summers old and running around the neighborhood and spending whole days with you.  sigh I'd like to believe you about the penpal thing, but I don't see how, you've promised me time and time again that you would keep up with our letter writing, or in this case email, but that promise is only good for a few weeks.  Shame on you if you fool me once shame on me if you fool me twice.  I just wanna know what makes you pick me up and drop me the way you do.  I just want to understand, Steve.  I like having you for a friend, but I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.  "I can't keep giving go on living with the way things are, so I'm going to walk away and its up to you to say how far." I know this sounds harsh, but I will not be your doormat, I thought we understood that about eachother.  What happened? What happened to us?_

_                        Please think this over, I don't want to throw this away any more than you do.  Please…Steve, I need you now more than ever._

_            Always, Anya_

            What the --? How could she?? He was so blown away, how could she think that he would do that to her??  But a voice deep within him had answered back, _because you know she's right.  _Doormat?  Who said that she was his doormat?  _You did when you figured you could email her anytime you wanted.  She's just getting sick and tired of it, she's just protecting herself, _ the voice answered for him.  He held his head in his hands for a few minutes before running his fingers through his hair, he knew deep in his heart that she was right.  She had every right to be as defensive as she was.  What had happened to them??  He leaned back in his chair thinking.  When exactly had they drifted apart and when had they fallen apart.  He reached over to turn on his CD player.

            _How the hell did we wind up like this?_

_          Why weren't we able _

_          To see the signs that we missed_

_          And try to turn the tables_

_          I wish you'd unclench your fists_

_          And unpack your suitcase_

_          Lately there's been too much of this_

_          Don't think its too late…_

            He didn't want her to walk away from this anymore than he wanted to walk away from this.  He valued their friendship more than anything and he loved her more than life itself.  That was it!  He would finally tell her how he felt about her.  Maybe this time this would show her that he was serious about this "penpal" thing.  But what if she didn't feel that way about him?  Obviously this is a chance that he would have to take.

            _Nothin's wrong_

_          Just as long as _

_          You know that someday I will_

_          Someday, somehow_

_          Gonna make it allright but not right now_

_          I know you're wondering when_

_          ( You're the only one who knows that )_

_          Someday, somehow_

_          Gonna make it allright but not right now_

          I know you're wondering when 

            He clicked the reply button:

                        _Dear Anya,_

_                                    Please you misunderstood me.  I think it's time I told you how I felt (please imagine me telling you this in person, preferably while you're in my arms) ever since I told those boys off and you said thank you to me and took my hand in the simple act of childhood friendship.  I must confess that you have held my heart ever since.  Please don't walk away from me, Anya, from us.  I love you, Anya Lynn Rousse.  Please I hope you love me back.  And to prove to you that I do truly love you, I'm going to arrange it with my mom that you come here for Christmas break.  Mom's always hinted that our breaks are the same so why not? I'll take care of all the plans, you just show up.  I promise you…please just let me have this one chance to show you how I feel._

_                        Always, Steve_

_Well I hoped that since we're here anyway_

_          We could end up saying_

_          Things we've always needed to say_

_          So we could end up stringing_

_          Now the story's played out like this_

_          Just like a paperback novel_

_          Let's rewrite an ending that fits_

_          Instead of a Hollywood horror_

_          Nothin's wrong _

_          Just as long as_

_          You know that someday I will _

_          Someday, somehow_

_          Gonna make it allright but not right now_

_          I know you're wondering when_

_          (You're the only one who knows that)_

_          Someday, somehow_

_          Gonna make it allright but not right now_

_          I know you're wondering when_

_          (You're the only one who knows that)_

            He pushed the send button and prayed to god that Anya would respond favorably.  He thought of her beating him at countless games of HORSE, and he grinned at the thought that she wouldn't have a prayer if she played him now.  _That's even if she comes here _the voice piped up.  That reminded him, he needed to ask his mom about the plans that he had half formed in his head.

            "Ma! Ma?" Steve called as he bounded the stairs two at a time.

            "In the kitchen, sweetie."

            He raced into the kitchen, pulling a Tom Cruise, except fully clothed.  "Ma, can we have Anya over here for when she has her Christmas vacation?"

            "You'd have to check with her grandmother, sweetheart.  I would love to have her over here.  It would be nice to see her again after so long.  I'm surprised the two of you haven't cooked up something like this before now."

            "Yeah, I know.  Do you have her grandmother's number, right now Anya is at Hogwarts. I've already sent her an email."

            "She's at Hogwarts?  Her grandmother let her go?  Well, I suppose it's about time, I've always thought that she was being too protective.  It's not like Anya is going to stay a little girl forever.  Only I wish there was a school like that here in the States."

            "Do you have her grandmother's number?"

            "Umm…I think so…it should be around here somewhere.  Go get my big address book from the dresser in the dining room.  I should have it in there."

            Steve ran into the dining room and grabbed the book from the dresser and he first searched through the little pieces of paper that had numbers of people whose names they had long forgotten.  At the bottom of the pile there it was; Anya's grandmother's house.  "Ma!  I found it!  Where's the cordless?"

            "In my hand, Steve-o"

            Steve grinned at his mother and kissed her on her cheek, "Thank you Mom, for letting me do this.  It really means a lot to me."  He bounded up the stairs the same way he had come down.

            Steve's mother smiled softly, wondering what had gotten into her son.  What had gotten him so worked up to see Anya again?  Before whenever she had mentioned it, he had just shrugged it off, like it was no big deal.  Now, she hoped that their on again off again relationship was on again, and this time for good.  She had had a hand in helping raise Anya and she thought that Anya was a good kid for Steve, not like some of the hussies that he had brought home before.  She had never seen her son so ambitious about this sort of thing, Anya always did make Steve smile, and she secretly thought that Anya was the best thing that happened to her son.

            Once barricaded in his room with the cordless phone, for the first time in ages his palms felt sweaty.  Never before had he felt such nervousness.  But this was different he was in love with the girl.  He grabbed his calling card from a dusty shelf and dialed the number, adding in Anya's when asked to do so by the prompt.  He heard three rings and then,

            "Hello?" a very distinctive British accent came on the line.

            "H-h-hello?  Is this Anya's grandmother?"

            "Yes, this happens to be her.  May I inquire who's calling?"

            "Yes!  Uhh…you may not remember me, but I'm Anya's friend Steve and I was wondering if it was possible for her to come back to the States for a visit, say during her Christmas vacation?"

            "I do remember you, quite well, you're the little boy who wouldn't leave Anya's side.  I'm sorry _Sam_ but I don't think a visit to the States is what Anya needs right now."

            "It's Steve, but do you think you could mull it over for a few weeks, please, it would mean a lot to me if I was able to see her again – "

            "I'm sure it would," the cold voice on the other line rudely interrupted, "but still my answer is no.  Good day to you now."  The voice had turned from ice cold to sickly sweet as the old, determined woman hung up.

            Steve heard the click and stared at the phone wordlessly.  '_Well what crawled up your ass and died old woman?' _"Ma!" he called as he bounded down the stairs for the third time.

            "What is it?"

            "I spoke to Anya's grandmother, she won't let Anya come here during her Christmas vacation.  Do you think you could speak to her?  Make her see reason.  I don't think she likes me very much.  She got wicked pissy sounding when I pressed her about it."

            "I can try Steve, sweetie, but I'm not making any promises."  She wrapped up her youngest son in a hug.  Be damned if she was going to get Anya free from the that old witch's grasp.

            Steve's mother knew a great deal about the wizarding world than any other muggle out there.  She had a sister in fact who was a witch and was very proud of her.  Her sister in fact kept her up to date with the inner workings of the world unknown to many.  She knew that the greatest dark wizard had tried to achieve ultimate greatness when one little boy stopped him with the power of love.  She also knew that Anya's grandmother had had some run-ins with the Dark One, and they didn't sound "pleasant".  After Anya's mother, Nan Rousse, moved to the States and into the quiet New England neighborhood, it just seemed right for Steve's mother to share her knowledge about the wizarding world to reach out to somebody who seemed so alone.

            When Anya's grandmother came forward to be Anya's guardian, Steve's mother protested.  She knew something was up with her friend's mother.  She never could quite place it, but she secretly thought that Anya's grandmother played a part in Anya's parent's deaths.  From then on, Steve's mother used her connections in the wizard world to keep her ear close to the ground.  And what she heard wasn't so pleasant.


	5. Chapter Four: You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like...

**A/N: **Sorry for taking so long on this chapter. I'm sure you Harry Potter readers have thought that I have neglected this story. But for those of you, who have been patient enough to wait, I have a few explanations as to why not only this story but all my others as well, have been on hiatus. I was in Ireland for my first semester in college and didn't really have access to internet and had to use the public terminals, hardly an ideal place for writing fanfic in peace, especially with people trying to finish term papers. Anyway, after I returned to the states my grandmother died…so of course I didn't write then and now I'm adjusting to college in my home state so here I am. I've updated AOGR for those of you who read Fushigi Yugi and will be updating Ayla and Shim soon.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter and characters created by J.K. Rowlings. However, I do own Anya Rousse, Steve Mayer, Nan Rousse (Syth), Anya's grandmother and Steve's mother. You use these people without my consent it will not be pretty. I also do not own the lyrics to "Cold" sung by Crossfade.

**What About Now?**

**Chapter Four: You Shouldn't Kiss Me Like This**

Anya curled up in a plushy chair, next to the common room fire. She booted up her laptop and logged on to her email address. Sure enough there was an email from Steve. She cringed on the inside; remembering her response to him. Anya busied herself by reading others emails to her; rolling her eyes at usual spam, thanking her stars that she had spam control. Finally, the only thing she had left to do was to open Steve's email. She had no idea why she was so scared; normally it was the first thing she opened. Anya took a deep breath and clicked on the mail and closed her eyes. The computer took its sweet time in uploading the email.

A hand clamped down on Anya's shoulder. "IIEE!" Anya whirled and saw Harry's green eyes sparkling mirthfully at her. She scowled at him, "Holy shit! Why on earth did you do that? What possessed you to do that?"

Harry shrugged, "because you're so easy to scare." He peered over her shoulder, "ooo another email from Steve, unopened I see."

Anya smacked Harry's arm playfully, "yes another email from Steve. It doesn't mean anything; he could tell me to shove off or something y'know? He's capable of doing something like that."

Finally, her laptop downloaded the email; Anya could already see Steve's salutation. She glared at Harry, giving him the evil eye.

Hands up in the air, he backed off, "Okay okay. I get the hint." He left the room to give her privacy.

"Thank you!" she called to his retreating form. Her eyes flicked back to the computer screen reading hungrily:

_Dear Anya,_

_ Please you misunderstood me. I think its time I told you how I felt (please imagine me telling you this in person, preferably while you're in my arms) ever since I told those boys off and you said thank you to me and took my hand in the simple act of childhood friendship. I must confess that you have held my heart ever since. Please don't walk away from me, Anya, from us. I love you, Anya Lynn Rousse. Please I hope you love me back. And to prove to you that I do truly love you, I'm going to arrange it with my mom that you come here for Christmas break. Mom's always hinted that our breaks are the same so why not? I promise you…please just let me have this one chance to show you how I feel._

_ Always, Steve_

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. This was not what she expected. Of course she would accept Steve's invitation to come visit. She would have to get on her grandmother's case. But what to do about his declaration of love? Anya was clueless as to what to do. She knew that she would have to search herself before she responded.

Anya checked the time on her laptop; it was almost time for people to start getting up. She logged out of her email and shut down her computer and minimized it. She stretched in the arm chair and suddenly felt the urge to shower. She loved her pjs but now she wanted to feel clean. She went upstairs to grab her towel and toiletries. A few minutes later she emerged feeling refreshed and revived until she remembered that she had Potions right after breakfast. Gag her with a spoon, Professor Snape was fast becoming her least favorite teacher. He always poked a comment about her mother as if he knew her intimately. But despite Professor Snape she found the subject of Potions to be fascinating and always did well, to much the chagrin of Snape.

A half an hour later…

Anya sighed; she had long ago tuned out Snape's nasal, monotone voice. Snape stopped in front of Anya and drummed his fingers trying to get her attention. "You know," Snape looked down at Anya, Anya was finally shaken out of her reverie and the class tittered quietly. However, she wouldn't be embarrassed, she looked up at him with burning eyes and an expression of mock surprise, "Ms. Rousse, I'll have you know that your mother was hung up on every word that I said."

Anya hated these little comments and his tone of voice. She answered him coolly, "Well as you can see, I'm not her." She smiled up at him, and her tone changed to sugary sweet, "I can see your point a little bit, people always did say we looked alike. Now, I really don't think people here want to know my family's geneology, so can we get back to the subject of potions?"

Professor Snape took a deep breath to cool his temper; he had never let a student get under his skin this badly. Anya could feel the eyes of the class on her back. She knew that Harry would try to talk to her about holding her attitude in check. Normally, she could even hold it when Draco bothered her and it was quite often. Anya tried explaining to Harry that it was Snape's tone of voice and the way he slipped her mother into every insult. She just couldn't do it. Surely, he could understand of all people?

Unlike Snape, she could handle Draco. However, there was something intoxicating about steely grey eyes that screamed vulnerability. There was something about his cold exterior that was fake and Anya loved having go arounds with him with insults that went way over his head. But Anya knew that she was playing with fire, and if she wasn't careful she could get burned. And Anya kind of liked the idea.

Anya finally turned to the eyes back in Snape's class. She flashed a wink to Harry, Ron and Hermione and then swung her gaze towards the other half of the room. She flashed a what are you looking at smirk to Draco and the rest of the Sytherins. After she had satisfied each pair of eyes, she turned her gaze back to Professor Snape, careful to pay close attention.

Twenty glorious minutes later, they were released from the prison that was Professor Snape's class. Harry, Ron and Hermione each breathed a sigh of relief. It was always hard getting through Snape's class, but now Anya made it ten times harder. Ron still looked at Anya in awe because in his eyes she had the guts to say what they've been dying to say for years. Hermione saw her as competition academically, but it was always friendly between the two. Anya let Hermione use her computer to keep in touch with her muggle friends. Harry saw so much of himself in Anya; he couldn't help but be close to her.

Another person had been keeping their eye on Anya as well. He saw her as an object of desire. Something he just had to have. So far she had thwarted every plan he had set up. He was intrigued.

Later that evening…

The golden trio and Anya were in the library doing some research for a paper they had to write. It was more like Hermione and Anya monitoring the boys. Ron thought it was great, he had his own tutor. Harry and Anya were in the aisles looking for books when Harry suddenly spoke up, "Anya what is up with you and Malfoy? Is there anything?"

Anya's hand froze in front of a book that she was about to grab and turned to Harry with confusion in her eyes. "I'm not sure what's going on. I'm really intrigued by him and to me his attitude is totally fake. I want to find out more. There's something about him I can't place."

Harry looked at Anya like she had suddenly sprouted feelers. "How? How do you get that from him? He's a slimy git, you should be smart enough to realize this –"Harry suddenly stopped, seeing the hurt expression on her face. "I'm sorry," he said quickly and she nodded her forgiveness, "I just don't see what you see and maybe that's a good thing, but I support you 100, Anya." Despite Harry's reassurance to support her, it did nothing to ease her confusion concerning Draco. The two went to rescue Hermione from Ron, he was trying to get her to write his paper by making stupid mistakes and handing his quill to her to fix whatever he did.

Anya opened her mouth and made a bold statement, "Ron, I know you like Hermione and all, but you shouldn't make her do all the work." Ron's face turned as red as his hair and Hermione looked just as horrified until she noticed Anya's smirk and wink. Hermione rolled her eyes to acknowledge Anya's joke. Plainly it was to get Ron off her case. And it worked.

Anya was up late, her face highlighted by the light blue glow of her laptop. Everyone was fast asleep and Anya was envious. She knew she couldn't sleep because she was still plagued by thoughts of Draco. She didn't want to risk writing her thoughts down long hand for fear anybody would read it. According to Harry, Draco was on everyone's shit list, except for the Sytherins. She looked at the cache of websites that had been visited on her laptop. She peered closer at an URL that she hadn't seen before. The title intrigued her, OpenDiary. Anya figured that Hermione visited this site after she had checked her email. The laptop loaded the website and she suddenly was overjoyed with an idea that she could get everything about Draco and more off her chest. The website proclaimed that she could set up an account for free; she just needed to click here. She followed the link and was taken to a form where she created a whole new identity for herself; finally a place she could be anonymous. Anya chose a simple handle, ThisGirl and quickly typed a description. She kept it pretty short and wrote that she was a woman-child trying to make the best of her situation. After creating her diary, Anya clicked on Write An Entry and closed her eyes and started to type:

_This may be a hefty entry especially if its my first one, but its three o'clock in the morning and I know myself well enough to know that if I don't get this off my chest I'm never gonna get any sleep. Today I got an email from Steve and he invited me to go back home to visit him and his mother. I will accept his invitation because it will be the first time in many years that I would be going home and he's my childhood best friend and an on and off pen pal since I was forced to move to England. You all might be saying why is this such a sleep deprivation event? But anyway there's more (there's always a catch ne?) He told me that he loved me and I'm not sure what to say; he's been in and out of my life since I've moved here to __England__. And to top it off my grandmother finally allowed me to go to a boarding school; it's the first time she's let me out of her sight since my parents were killed. At my school; there's this gorgeous guy I've got it bad for. He's pompous and arrogant in everyway. But there's something that screams vulnerability or at the very least "Hey look at me I'm a fake!" And he's so much fun to pick on! sighs I guess I can go to sleep now. Gods, blessed sleep…_

Anya clicked the post button and watched her first entry come on the screen. Somehow she was deeply satisfied. Anya shut down her laptop and minimized it. She curled up under her blankets; her dreams and breathing finally deep and pleasant.

…

Hermione called out to Anya; "Hey thanks for letting me use your computer it means a lot to me. She checked her email quickly, sending quick, rapid fire emails to those in her mailbox with lightening speed. 10 minutes she was cruising down the internet superhighway towards her favorite website. TheOpenDiary. She signed in and quickly saw that nobody that she knew of had updated. So, Hermione clicked on a Random Entry. A few that she looked at were boring but then the next one caught her eye. Hermione didn't know if it was the simple handle or the subject matter. It didn't strike anybody that Hermione would be intrigued by matters of the heart. Since she didn't have any herself, Hermione had taken to observing those around her. She had become quite the listener and was the most sought after person in the common room after Harry of course. Hermione scanned the entry quickly. _A boarding school eh? And in GB? Hmm…_She clicked on the diarist profile to gain any clues about the mysterious ThisGirl. It turns out the profile wasn't much help here either. All she got was song lyrics:

_"I never really wanted you to see_

_ The screwed up side of me that I keep_

_ Locked inside of me so deep it_

_ It always seems to get to me_

_ I never really wanted you to go_

_ So many things you should've known_

_ I guess for me there's just no hope_

_ I never meant to be so cold."_

A little paragraph followed proclaiming the authoress to be a woman child making due with what she got. Hermione was intrigued and so she left a note inviting ThisGirl to check out her diary and that she was here if she needed anything. She signed it with her penname Mysterious Darkness. Hermione grinned at her penname; so unlike herself that nobody would've guessed.

In the Sytherin common room a steely eyed male specimen was wearing a path into the lush emerald carpeting. His blond hair was in disarray because of his slim fingers through it every 10 seconds. He was perplexed; he couldn't stop thinking about Anya; her smirk; her sass; her smoldering eyes. Christ, he was getting excited just thinking about her. Something had to be done. Something had to bring her off her high horse; something that could bring her to her knees. Suddenly he stopped his pacing and snapped his fingers and he knew just how to do it. The corners of Malfoy's mouth twitched into what could be considered a "grinchy grinch-like grin".


End file.
